Contents

Dedication

The Blurb

The life of a pack is full of danger-- but the greatest danger of all is the one that hides within.

Storm has spent her whole life fighting for survival and acceptance. Now she finally feels at home in the Wild Pack, and for the first time she can remember, the world beyond their camp is at peace.

Yet within the Pack, tensions are rising. Some dogs are far from satisfied with the Pack order, and others still don't trust Storm and Arrow, the only two Fierce Dogs within their ranks. Worse, Storm fears her Packmates might be right. Troubled by dreams of fear and shadows, Storm isn't sure which is the greater threat—the darkness brewing within the Pack... or the darkness within herself.

Detailed Plot Summary

Wiggle, Grunt and Lick, though all unnamed at the time, are alone in the Dog Garden, abandoned by their Pack with their dead Mother-Dog and the Alpha'smurdered pup. They are oblivious to the concept of death, believing that the pup will play with them once he is done sleeping along with their Mother-Dog. However, they are fearful at being alone, crying shrilly. They are disturbed by the presence of two dogs, later to be discovered as Mickey and Lucky, who enter the Dog Garden to find them.

Storm is leading a hunt for the first time after the long Ice Wind season. She is happy that Lucky had shown such faith in her to take charge. She feels satisfied about the certain dogs in her group: Snap, Mickey, Arrow, and Whisper. However, despite being in charge, she's frustrated by Mickey's advice and wishes he would stop guiding her like a pup. The dogs decide to try hunting by the hollow to drive out prey by a rabbit warren. Storm snaps slightly at Mickey for giving more advice, but she apologizes afterwards. Storm plans out their hunting strategy, directing the dogs to their proper positions in order to drive out the rabbits.

Whisper comes out beside Storm, startling her. He showers her with praise on her strategy and how great of a hunt leader she was. Storm thanks him and replies that she hopes this hunt goes well so that she could lead more in the future. He assures her and wonders aloud whether they'd catch a deer. Storm huffs, doubting they'd be that lucky.

Storm turns away from Whisper, looking away from the adoration on Whisper's face. She recalls the Storm of Dogs, where she had battled Blade to the death-- and although she had been glad to avenge all the evil Blade had wrought-- she considered herself only a hunter now. Storm hoped Whisper would drop the hero-worship and regard her as a normal dog, for the benefit of the Pack's peace. She recalls her struggle to win over the trust of the Pack as a Fierce Dog, the half-wolf Alpha who made it all the more difficult. The Fierce-Dog pushes away the memories, leaping over a stream and enjoying the present in renewed optimism.

Storm catches a squirrel, noting how thin the creature was and how harsh the Ice Wind must've been on the other forest animals. Following this catch, the other hunters uproot a nest of mice. Storm praises Snap for the find, but her praise was ignored by the fellow hunter who turned to nuzzle her head against Mickey's. Storm looks at them with distaste, thinking to herself on what a waste of time it was to snuggle up to a mate during a hunt.

The dogs continue hunting and come across the warren of rabbits. While the dogs chased the rabbits into each others' jaws, Storm notice Whisper veer away towards Snap and from Arrow, who had been in perfect position to intercept the fattest hare. They lose the two rabbits and many more in the confusion. As Storm demands why Whisper spoiled the hunt, Snap comes forward to defend him. She states that Whisper was nervous of Arrow and admitted it was hard to trust a Fierce Dog after all that had happened. Although Storm points out she as Fierce Dog and trusted, Whisper mumbles that she's different because she killed Blade. As the dogs return to camp, Storm worries that she's the same as Arrow and whether the terrible battle was the only thing they cared about.

Storm leads her hunting party back to camp after an unsuccessful hunt. Lucky catches sight of her and congratulates her on her hunt. Storm notices that his attention lies on Sweet, and she goes to sit with Thorn and Beetle instead. They play-fight until Sweet addressed the pack to start eating. Thorn and Beetle are suddenly hostile, stating that Twitch had better not try to eat before Moon. Storm is surprised, thinking that prey was enough for everybody. Sweet does, however, let Twitch eat before Moon, and Storm notices that the tension between the pack intensifies. After the prey-sharing, Storm offers to play-fight Thorn and Beetle again, and is declined. Sweet, noticing the tension, offers to tell a story of the Spirit Dogs, in which most dogs are eager to hear.

Sweet tells the dogs about the Wind-Dogs and how they run all year trying to catch the elusive Golden Deer before Ice Wind. She says that if a pack manages to catch the shadow, a living Golden Deer, then that pack is truly blessed by the Spirit Dogs. Storm wants to catch a Golden Deer one day, then wonders if she and Arrow have their own Spirit Dog, only to quickly shake the thought off. Storm then goes to sleep, and dreams of herself as a pup playing with Martha. In the dream, she sees a shadow moving between the trunks, and asks Martha for reassurance. Martha tells her there is no danger out there, and that the darkness is in Storm herself. Horrified, Storm wakes up, only to find herself in the woods, far from the camp. She tries to sneak back to camp, but is caught by Arrow and Bella . She lies to them that she is going for a walk, and goes back to her den to sleep.

The next day, Storm wakes up and goes out on a hunting party. After a while, Lucky smells stale deer scent and the pack tracks the scent. The pack soon realize there is deer scent everywhere, and Bella says this place might be the deer's camp. Storm suggests that this place has got something to do with the Golden Deer, but Bella contradicts her. The dogs go on to debate about Spirit Dogs and whether they are real or not, but they are stopped when Bruno tells them to start hunting, and that the deers have long gone. They have an unsuccessful hunt, and they return to the camp. When they got back to camp, an argument soon started because Moon is ordering patrol dogs. Alpha silences them, and the tension eases out. Later, Storm asks Lucky if he still dreams of the Storm of Dogs, and that she had a bad dream last night. Lucky says that he has stopped having bad dreams, but reassures her by saying that bad dreams are natural.

Storm goes on a hunting party with Mickey, Whisper, and Woody. The four struggle to find food, and later find a tusknose carcass. But in spite of a giantfur, Mickey attempts to steal the food. The giantfur returns to catch them trying to take the food, and pursues them. They make it back to the pack alive, but with empty paws.

More Coming Soon

Trivia

Though Arrow is featured on the cover,[12] he is shown as tan-and-brown, when he is actually black-and-tan.[13]

Comparing A Pack Divided's cover to the Storm of Dogs cover, Gillian has stated it shows the difference in Storm's maturity and growth.[14]